Dauntless Fire
by EvilxEye
Summary: Fighting. Fear. Blood. Freedom. Love. Adventure. Bravery. This is Dauntless. Rowan and her three closest friends all know that Dauntless is where they belong. But what happens when everything they thought they knew, isn't true? Serums. War. Sacrifice. Death. Will bravery and love be enough to save them? Or will Dauntless fire consume them all?


**Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I own nothing (except for my OC) since I am not Veronica Roth. I wish I had created this world and these amazing characters though!**

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I had known since learning what the Choosing Ceremony was what faction I would choose when the day came. I was born Dauntless and I would stay in Dauntless. I belonged here as surely as Uriah loved the Dauntless chocolate cake. It was just common knowledge.

"Nervous?" asked Marlene.

Today was Choosing Day. The day every sixteen year old in the city would choose what faction they would be part of for the rest of their lives.

"Why would I be?" I asked, shrugging.

All the Dauntless sixteen year olds had been ushered to the front of the crowd while the rest of Dauntless stood behind us. We were all waiting for the train that would take us to the Choosing Ceremony. Marlene stood beside me and I wondered idly where Uriah and Lynn were.

I peered over my leather clad shoulder at the throng of people and spotted Uriah and Lynn shoving their way through the crowd. Once they spotted us, they came to stand beside Marlene and I.

"I'm kind of nervous," admitted Marlene, sheepishly blushing.

"No need to be," said Lynn, knocking her shoulder against Marlene's.

Uriah, Marlene and Lynn were my closest friends. Us four had been friends since birth and as far as I knew, we were all choosing Dauntless today.

Uriah was tall, bronze skinned and well-muscled. He was always smiling his bright white smile. The only time I can recall Uriah not smiling was when his dad died years ago. His always messy hair was such a dark brown that it looked black and his eyes were a deep, dark brown. Uriah was definitely handsome and he knew it.

Marlene was tall and willowy with long, light brown hair that waved around her face. She was always complaining that it got in her face while training but she refused to cut it. She was very easygoing and with her wide, blue eyes, she had an almost childish joy about her. She liked to flirt with guys for fun and as a result, she just naturally smiled flirtatiously.

Lynn was almost the total opposite of Marlene. Lynn was on the shorter side and she never got tired of reminding us about how much she hated it. Once her sixteenth birthday rolled around, she shaved her head completely bald but with her golden brown eyes and full lips, she still looked stunning without trying at all.

The train horn blared to my left, coming closer.

"Here it comes," I announced, tucking stray strands of my dark red hair behind my heavily pierced ears.

"Sixteen year olds first!" a voice yelled over the heads of the crowd.

A lot of Dauntless were on the roof with us so they could come to the Choosing Ceremony but even more had to stay behind at the compound. There was no way that the entire faction would fit on the one train that would bring us to the ceremony. The Choosing Ceremony wasn't mandatory to attend but many did.

"Here we go!" yelled Uriah from beside me, excitement clear in his voice as the train rounded the corner and barrelled towards us.

And then like we were of a single mind, all the sixteen year olds took off together in a sprint. The wind whipped my hair around my face as I ran behind Lynn, the train to my left and my booted feet slapping pavement.

I watched as Lynn, with a great lurch, jumped at the train. She grabbed the handhold by the door with one hand while her boots found purchase on the foothold. With her free hand, she pressed her palm against the pad by the door and the door slid open. She threw a quick smirk aimed at the three of us still running and then she swung herself into the train.

I followed next, jumping at the train and grabbing the handhold and settling my feet on the foothold. Once sure I had a good grip on the handhold, I kicked off the foothold and swung myself into the open door of the train.

Lynn smirked up at me from her spot on the floor. She was sitting across from the door on the floor, leaning against the wall. I settled down beside her to watch the other Dauntless pile onto the train. Uriah and Marlene joined us soon after and we sat back to enjoy the long ride to the Abnegation sector.

"You know how you asked me before if I was nervous," I said, leaning across Lynn to peer at Marlene.

"Yeah?"

"I kind of am too. Not for the Choosing Ceremony though," I clarified. "But for Initiation."

Uriah threw his arm around my shoulders and pulled me tight to his side. "No need to be. We're Dauntless born. Initiation will be as easy as eating Dauntless cake."

I forced myself not to blush at the casual way Uriah touched me. He wasn't my boyfriend or anything remotely romantic to me but lately, I had been longing to change that. I don't know what brought it on exactly but I found myself thinking about him in a clearly, not normal best friend kind of way. It seems like I just woke up one day and the way I viewed him had changed.

"Right," I said, rolling my eyes. Of course Uriah would somehow interject chocolate cake into the conversation.

The four of us lapsed into silence as the train pulled us towards Abnegation. I had a lot on my mind but not enough that I wasn't conscious of the fact that Uriah kept his arm around me and pulled to his side.

I was comfortable against Uriah, almost dozing off, when a girl with bright purple hair who had been standing by the door turned to everyone on the train.

"Get ready!" she called.

We all clamoured to our feet, the train filling with excited conversations. Uriah used his height and carved a path for us to one of the open doors. By standing on my toes, I could just see an approaching slight, green hill through the door.

The train slowed slightly and black clothed Dauntless started pouring out of the train. I slid in front of Uriah, who was about to jump out, and smirked at him before pitching myself out of the door.

Being used to the momentum the moving train gave me when jumping; I was able to slip into a smooth shoulder roll on the grass before gaining my feet. Right in front of me was a large, plain grey building that looked like it had many floors.

I don't know how we did it without any signals but all the Dauntless took off running together in a pack towards the building. We were running and jumping and yelling and I got caught up in it, a large grin on my face. Other factions were arriving also but our very exuberant arrival drew everyone's attention.

Uriah, Marlene and Lynn somehow found me in the throng of screaming Dauntless and we ran together, jumping and laughing. We were a sea of black clothes and brightly dyed hair as we pushed into the grey building.

I followed the people ahead of me at a run until they slowed down and then stopped.

"What's going on?" I asked, turning to Uriah. "Use your height."

He rolled his eyes but by standing on his toes, he could see over the many heads in the crowd. "We're all waiting for the elevators."

"All?" I questioned.

"Look around, idiot," said Lynn, elbowing me. "All the factions except for Abnegation."

I followed Lynn's instructions and realized she was right. Blue for Erudite, black and white for Candor, red and yellow for Amity and black for Dauntless surrounded us as we waited for the elevators. I had been too caught up in the camaraderie of the Dauntless to really pay any attention to my surroundings.

"Why can't we take the stairs?" asked Marlene, trying to see around the people.

Uriah shrugged. "Probably too many floors to climb."

"All the Stiff's are probably climbing the stairs though since they aren't here. The Abnegation would be too selfless to take up space on the elevators," I said.

"I don't envy them," snickered Lynn. "This building must have thirty floors."

Lynn was close. When we got into the elevator, someone pressed the button to take us up to the top floor and it stopped at twenty floors. An Abnegation man was waiting by the doors of the elevator and when we stepped out, he directed us where to go.

He gestured us through a set of open double doors but I couldn't see far enough ahead to see what was in the room. I suddenly became a little tense but I didn't know why. I had no reason to be at all.

As we slowly shuffled forward, I grabbed Uriah's wrist without thinking. I didn't look at him but I could see him smiling down at me in my peripheral vision. He moved his wrist out of my grip and replaced it with his hand.

His palm was warm and not at all clammy like mine hand probably was. He slipped his fingers between mine and I curled my fingers to hold on a little tighter. Having him close calmed me and my momentary nerves settled. I was suddenly glad that we were all packed together so tight as we moved forward. If Lynn or Marlene—or anyone from Dauntless—saw us hold hands, I wouldn't hear an end to the teasing and suggestive jokes.

As we passed through the doorway, I took a deep breath and squeezed Uriah's hand a little tighter. This was the room where I would decide the rest of my life.

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**Review! Please review and give me feedback!**

**So I know that I personally don't like stories where a major character is with an OC but I just couldn't get the idea of Rowan out of my head. I don't really know where I'm going to go with this story but as long as Rowan stays in my head, I'm sure I'll have a story to write. Anyways, feedback is greatly appreciated and I hope you all like Rowan as much as I do!**


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